Within the field of computing, many scenarios involve the transit of travelers through an area, such as individuals who are walking or driving a vehicle such as a car through a road network of a city. A transit agency, such as a branch of a regional government may be responsible for monitoring the transit of such travelers, and for setting policy, managing resources, and operating transit control devices, such as traffic lights, in order to alleviate traffic congestion, promote safety, and to address problems that interfere with the transit of such travelers through the region.
In such scenarios, determination of transit queue volumes, such as an evaluation of a road network of a city to determine the existence of traffic congestion. Devices may utilize such information, e.g., for estimating a travel time along a route; for choosing among several possible routes to a destination; and/or for adjusting transit controls to alleviate traffic congestion in an area.
Many techniques may be utilized to estimate transit queue volume in an area, such as human observation; tagging and tracking of individual travelers; and cameras or other detectors positioned throughout the area. However, such techniques may involve significant costs in terms of equipment purchase, deployment, monitoring, and maintenance, and may also exhibit insufficient accuracy and/or timeliness in the collected data about transit queue volume. Additionally, data about the volume and fluctuation of transit queues in various areas may not be attainable in a reliable and rapid manner using such techniques, which may limit the accuracy and responsiveness of transit control measures.